FARMINGTON – How I might sum up the life of my Father, Thomas Eastler, 73, of Farmington, Maine, in a reasonably sized written document is nearly impossible.
It should include his humble beginnings in Waltham, Mass. and his impressive pedigree, from Brown University to Columbia University where he received his Ph.D. in Geology in 1971. It should describe his incredibly successful career in the military, which spanned Active Duty service for the USAF during the Vietnam War and both Desert Storm and Desert Shield; he retired at the rank of Colonel in 1996 after 30 years and 30 days of service (most of that spent in the Active Reserve).
It should include his love of teaching, retiring from the University of Maine in Farmington in 2015 after spending 41 years as a Professor of Geology. Teaching was his passion, and he was able to combine that with his love of sports becoming influential in the development of youth racewalking for USA Track & Field in Maine and throughout the U.S.
It would be incomplete if it didn’t include his “free time” activities, which included farming on his beloved 140 acre farm, privately consulting for the Department of Defense for several decades, sitting on 3 Gubernatorial appointed Boards for the State of Maine, writing dozens of publications and books, and serving the Town of Farmington for over 40 years (most recently, the 29 years he spent on the Planning Board).
I would be remiss not to mention some of the awards he accumulated over the years, which include the Legion of Merit, Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and Fellow of the Geological Society of America, among many others.
None of this, however, adequately sums up the man that Tom was and what legacy he has left behind. Tom lived with a purpose for life that he felt was bigger than living simply for oneself. His work ethic was unparalleled, leaving no job unfinished. He felt responsible for his fellow man, consistently doing for others at the expense of himself. He lived at least 5 more lifetimes as measured by the amount of deeds accomplished while others were sleeping; while his family often saw this as a sacrifice to his personal being, it was probably more accurate to view this as part of his drive to live his life with great intention. He lived his whole life with curiosity, never losing his drive to learn. He took immense pride in not only the accomplishments of his family, but also of those he taught and coached over the years; he never felt that he was personally responsible for anyone’s success, but simply viewed his effort with each person as an encouragement to help them find the power and greatness within themselves.
Tom is survived by his beloved wife, his high school sweetheart, Susan Sinclair Eastler, his sister Kathy Eastler Maher of Bainbridge Island, WA, his children Lauren Farkash and her husband Ron, Gretchen Fishman and her husband Jayme, and Kevin Eastler, and his wife Sara. He leaves his greatest legacies, his Grandchildren, Emma, Abby, and Nathan Farkash; Lily, Shayna, and Evan Fishman; Savannah and William Eastler. In addition to his Sister-In-Law, Sharon Sinclair Williams and her husband Robert, and numerous nieces and nephews, he will be missed by many whom he touched along the circle of his life.
~ Humbly written by his daughter, Gretchen, whose strong voice and persistent manner (gifts from my Father) was quieted ever so slightly in this writing. Words could never do justice to the life of this amazing man.
In his memory, two scholarships have been established in his name. Donations to the Thomas E. Eastler Geology Scholarship may be sent to the University of Maine at Farmington, Ferro Alumni Center, 242 Main St., Farmington, ME 04938. Donations to the Thomas Eastler Youth Fund for the USA Racewalking Foundation can be made at www.usaracewalking.org.
There will be a public Celebration of Life for Tom on Sunday, Sept. 30, 1 p.m., and the University of Maine at Farmington (please check the UMF calendar for specific location, www.umf.maine.edu) followed by a gathering at Sunny View Farm, 300 Mosher Hill Road, Farmington, Maine. Rocks for his memorial cairn are welcome. Arrangements are assisted by Wiles Remembrance Center – Adams-McFarlane Chapel 137 Farmington Falls Road, Farmington.
Memories and condolences may be shared on his memorial wall at www.wilesrc.com
RIP Dr. Rock —- More than 20 years ago, Tom established a relationship with my then 10 year old son, Dana, who seemed destined to be the next Dr. Rock. Tom invited him, at age 12 to travel across the country in the UMF van to explore the great geology of the southwest. Surrounded by college aged students and adults, Dana had a life experience like no other with Dr. Rock. Beyond this memory of Tom, I always admired and appreciated his support for education at Mt. Blue, and his dedication to all the environmental issues confronted by our Franklin County region. A true scholar, dedicated public servant and a fine sense of humor…… Sincerest condolences to Sue, Gretchen and Kevin.
The planet has lost an awesome, loving, kind and generous human being. Lets all try to be a little kinder, work harder and be more a more responsible citizen of the globe as a way to honor the memory and legacy of Tom Eastler.
Sue, so very saddened by your loss. Thoughts and prayers to you and your family during this most sad and difficult time.
Dear Eastler Family, we send you our love and heart felt condolences for the loss of Tom. May you all find some peace in your hearts and know how much you all are loved.
Sue and family,
Thinking of you all…
A great man who will be sorely missed by many Thank you Tom for all you have done
Lauren and Sue – I will always cherish all the fond memories I shared with your family. I will never forget moving the little white house down the road so the new one could be built in its place. I smile at the thought of the countless nights I spent with your family and how often I sat at the dinner table with all of you. Please know he will always be holding your heart when you wish he could still be holding your hand. My sincerest condolences to all of you. Love Ranae
My condolences to you all. May your memories provide some comfort during your time of grief!
Rest easy Dr. Eastler
My Sincere Condolences to the Eastler Family.
Tom made taking a geology class fun.
My sincere condolences to Susan and the rest of his beloved family!
My heartfelt condolences to the Eastler family. There is a large community sharing your loss. Tom had an influential and lasting impression on my life. I believe Shakespeare’s words are relevant, “We shall not see his like again.” To Gretchen – a lovely tribute to your Dad. Thank you for sharing.
Sue, Lauren, Gretchen & Kevin,
So, so sad to hear of Tom’s passing. I feel more than fortunate to have had Tom in my life when I was a little girl & he lived with my family for all the summers he worked on Change Islands.
Sue, you & Tom gave me a thumb – index dictionary for Christmas 1967 ( comparable perhaps to an I-ph now) and I treasure & use it to this day, worn with love not only from my use but my children & grandchildren as well. Besides that I received from Tom my introduction to Geology, National Geographic magazine, first taste of Maple Syrup, love of good photography, importance of keeping & passing on culture & tradition, love & care of the environment & the importance of ‘keeping fit’.
At the end of Tom’s long days on ‘the rocks’, then a run & cool down ( I still picture him running around our garden ), I would anxiously wait until I could talk to him, always eager with a question or how to spell a ‘big word’ ! Probably last thing he needed but he always made time for me. I loved him as a brother & my parents as their son. His laugh at our supper table as we all of us related stories of our day ( something my parents always made time for & now my grandchildren expect & love) was infectious. !My mom was amazed by his love of Peanut Butter instead of other choices she offered for his days ‘on the rocks’.
He so looked forward to calling Sue & then we got to meet her too & knew right away why he loved her so much. While visiting with us in Change Islands one summer, she ( without hesitation) offered her nursing skills when a crisis arose. She had us all then & we knew without a doubt she was his true partner .Then there was the night I remember so well. He was talking to Sue on the phone in our kitchen ( not much privacy in those days) when he began to scream and jump up & down ! He quickly reassured us as we came running that it was ok. Sue had told him they were expecting their first baby !
As you grew up he always sent my parents & us family photos along with letters describing the activities of each family member throughout the previous year. Such a proud husband & dad.
Years & distance have sadly separated us but my memories of that precious time in my life & how without a doubt it influenced a little ‘Island Girl’ ( as one of my daughters calls me) will always be with me.
With our deepest sympathies & love to you all at this most difficult of times,
Linda ( Hoffe) Bown, Wallace & Family
My condolences to the entire Eastler family. You did a good job considering the circumstances Gretchen. I so wish I had gone on one of his cross country May Term trips. The reports that came back were always so positive. The number of people he influenced will never be known. RIP Dr. Rock.
A wonderful man who did so much for others, his family, and the community.
So sorry to hear of your loss, Sue. Tom was a wonderful man and so well respected in the UMF community. race walking community and the community of Farmington. Sending my special thoughts and prayers your way.
With out a doubt, one of the most influencial professors, and man that I was honored to know. He inspired myself and many, many others during my 4 years at UMF, and I am honored to have gotten my Geology degree with all the help and inspiration from Dr. E. My deepest condolences to family and friends that knew Tom.
Sincerly, Blair Tracy
class of 1982, Wasilla, Alaska
Tom irrevocably changed the trajectory of my life. He instilled in me, and so many others that he came into contact with, that the most improbable dreams are well within the realm of possibility. The skills he taught me in aerial photo interpretation and remote sensing led me from Farmington, Maine to the Anasazi ruins of the American southwest, across the entirety of Alaska, the deserts and mountains of inner Asia, and the high Himalaya – places I had only dreamed of visiting let alone making scientific discoveries in the footsteps of John Fremont, John Muir, and Roy Chapman Andrews. I am not alone. Tom inspired so many students to go on to graduate school and out into the world – changing the course of so many lives.
Tom was mortal, but his impact on so many students who carry on his legacy of optimism, enthusiasm, and inquisitiveness will expand and reverberate far into the future. He achieved immortality.
For Sue and the whole family. This is a most difficult time. Tom was a terrific person and will be greatly missed by all who knew him. Like a stone tossed into a pond his words and work will ripple outward and continue to touch people’s lives for a very long time. May you find peace in your memories as you deal with the loss of husband, father teacher and friend.
To Gretchen, Lauren, Kevin, and Sue: Tom was simply a great person who added a positive energy to his community. His enthusiasm for many things was boundless and I always admired him for that characteristic. When I learned of his passing it was as if a dark cloud enveloped me. The world lost a wonderful soul last week. The last time I saw Tom was in March of 2017, when he came down to our house on his tractor to dig out our Toyota pickup, buried in snow and ice. He never gave a second thought to helping me out after we met in Hannaford’s and my plight came up in conversation. This small, insignificant example, helps illustrate who he was. Mosher Hill Road will never be the same without Dr. Rock.
Tom was a force of nature and an incredible gift to the town of Farmington and UMF. My family was very lucky in that Tom took a shine to my father, Bob Bean. They shared a decrepit backhoe and an eagerness to see what trouble they could get into with it. Multiple generations of Beans have Tom Eastler stories, some from his Alaska trips with UMF geology students. My memories of Tom are suffused with his booming laugh, his amazing energy and willingness to tackle any problem the world was facing, and his fierce devotion to his family, friends and community. He has left his mark on so many. My heartfelt sympathies to the Eastler family.
John Bean
Tom was a special friend and a very smart man. You will be missed Tom and you had a very special wife and family. They were amazing people and I will never forget their kindness to my family . May Tom be at rtest with Jesus and free from all pain. Rest in peace Tom
Tom was more influential in my life (and many others….) then he ever understood. My life would have been quite different and more difficult without his friendship, tutelage and his belief in me. There are many teachers in this world – and I’ll guess that many are pretty good. There are very few exceptional educators – he had few peers in that category. I will NEVER forget what he did for me. Godspeed – RIP Tom…
Dear Sue,
Our thoughts are with you, and our sympathies extended to the whole family.
Tom was indeed larger than life, and thinking of him clearly conjures up stories we ALL apparently have.
Much love from both of us.
UMF will never be the same! So many of my memories revolve around Dr. E. Everything from his hunting get-up in Intro to Env Geo freshman year to the 24 hr experience plotting an airport senior year to beginning of life conversations in Earth History. I loved every minute of the New Foundland Trip and the Ireland Trip. I would never have gotten to work in the Farmington Sewer Treatment Plant or taken weekly pictures of the river (for YEARS!) if it wasn’t for you. I hope I can give as much as I received from this amazing person.
xoxoxoxoxo
To the Eastler Family, words cannot express my deep sense of loss upon hearing of Tom’s passing. From club ice hockey practice at 2300hours til who knows how long. Terrain Analysis working on the Hardy Farm. To probably the best of all when Sue and Tom along with two and a half month old,Kevin came to our wedding reception.
Tom always taught to give yourself to something bigger than you and I-will cherish my fond memories.
Jayne and Alex McPhedran
My sympathies go out to Sue and family ,Tom was my,our Coach for the UMF gentle mens ice hockey team, He loved ice hockey and needless to say it had indeed a contagious affect on all of us ,He was kind but firm and always sought insight as how to improve our game within and without ,Always positive !!! I was the goaltender then and tom would always put time in for one on one practice with me ,As to help me along . As with me and all our team he held the torch and held it high!!! We shall now carry on with torch in hand .Thank you Tom Love the TEAM!!!!!!!!
Dr. Eastler,
Was without a doubt one of the most AWESOME and dynamic individuals anyone could hope to meet. He selflessly put his students first and was one of the most incredible academicians the University of Maine system ever had. His warmth was legendary and his dedication to his field exceptional. A much needed program for what was primarily a teachers college. He was very instrumental in bringing a human side to Science.
Dr. Rock was the most caring,thoughtful man that I have had the privilege of knowing. He was dedicated to his students and would do anything for them to get them on the right track.He was a good friend to me and I will sure miss his wisdom and his thoughts.UMF will never be the same.
My thoughts go out to the family.
Aloha Dear Eastler Ohana.
Tom was such an amazing human being! He was the one Track coach in high school that Truly inspired me. I always looked forward to him helping me in my throwing events when he of course, was volunteering his time. I had no clue and he was so motivating and believed in me. I still tell people how I had this one special coach who was so fun. I loved him so much. He was so friendly, caring, and totally into teaching everyone. What a great role model. I’ll never forget him.
I am so very sad. I am praying for you all.
May God bless you.
Tom was a wonderfully generous and kind human being, and he made me feel welcome in Farmington from the day I showed up at his UMF office door back in 1984 as a brand new high school science teacher. He was an inspiring and dynamic teacher himself, instrumental in my “conversion” to geology as a career change, and he freely offered materials, equipment, and advice all through my own teaching career. I was also fortunate enough to have his enthusiastic support through two advanced geology degrees, with him actively serving on both my masters and doctoral committees. He was just an overall larger-than-life person I will miss him. Farmington is suddenly a lot smaller.
Tom was born in Waltham, Massachusetts, but he was every inch a Mainer from the time he set foot in Farmington. He had a big brain and a big heart and he used both to focus strongly outward to the people and the world around him. He was a friend whom I didn’t see often, but I remember each encounter. He was very special!
Sue, Gretchen, Lauren and Kevin,
What a beautiful you wrote about your father. You summed up very well what impact your dad had on us, our community and the world. His works, words and being will surely live on.
Our love and sincere condolences to you and yours. Lucia and Peter
Dear Eastler family:
I’m certain you’ll hear this a lot but your husband and father was a monumental figure in my life – this despite the fact that I was only at UMF from 1978-1982. I arrived planning to be a forest ranger but left for geology graduate school four years later with a geology-chemistry degree. Virtually everything about that life shift I owe to him. He was the first professor I ever met – walking into Environmental Geoscience as a freshman – and none that I met in any of my subsequent years of college mattered half as much to my life as he did. He convinced me to switch majors and to this day I still read geology constantly – for work and not for work – and still don’t know my trees. So it was clearly the right change at the right time. He insisted that I go to field camp and I wound up spending six weeks across creation in Alaska. I had never traveled past New Jersey at that point in my life and that trip truly changed me. He told me I could get a Master’s Degree when I’m certain I didn’t even know what that was. He wrote me letters of support that practically made me blush. I loved his classes and the way he thought. He challenged me and fielded all my questions. He was always so positive and energetic and interested in my stories and…well, in everything! He opened up my mind and, trust me, like most 18-year-olds, it needed opening. Most of all I knew he genuinely cared about me and he conveyed so much confidence in me. Always. Honestly, there were so many times I was as sure I couldn’t do something as he was sure I could. So I tried anyway.
Regrettably my own father was not present in my life during those years and I’m not exaggerating to say that he filled that role as much as anyone could have. I’d run to his office first with my school or career news. That’s a lot to ask of your geology professor. Yet I always felt that when I walked into his office I was the person he most wanted to see.
Today I manage a group of scientists and I can tell you with certainty that without Thomas Eastler I would not be here. I have always missed him since I left UMF and now always will. But I will never forget him. Ever. Truly a giant among people. A life so well-lived and so consequential.
Please know I am sending you all thoughts of love.
Paul Hunt
BA, UMF ’82
MS, University of Oregon ’85
What a unique and colorful man your father was! I had the honor and privilege of sharing the Dept of Natural Sciences at UMF with him for 20 years. When he was at a meeting, it was never dull. His energy and enthusiasm was always an amazement to me. It was infectious and I know his students were galvanized by it. Truly a remarkable man. He will be missed greatly by us all and many, many more. My greatest sympathy to you all in this difficult time. May you find peace in his legacy.
Sarah Sloane
I am very saddened to think that Tom will no longer be with us. One thing that I do not think has yet been mentioned about Tom was his love and passion for ice hockey. When I floated the idea of starting a youth hockey program in Farmington, Tom enthusiastically participated with our fledgling committee in offering not simply his time, but invaluable guidance In helping to get that program off the ground. it is worth noting that many of the young kids whose character may have been positively influenced by that program are perhaps unknowingly indebted to Tom Eastler, whose gregariousness, intellect and helpfulness will be sorely missed.